The piano drum improvisations with drummer Julian Clarke were starting to gel, but the months were passing and Alan still hadn't found a bassist to take the place of Stephanie Abreu, who'd left for school at the end of the summer. He was itching to bring in another musician. He auditioned a couple of musicians over that period but the fit was never right. They had trouble making the transition to Alan's style of jazz, which he had taken to calling fractal jazz, and the results were disappointing.

Julian, in the meantime, kept an ear to the ground at Rosedale Heights. In December he came up with a suggestion. He said, "I know someone who might fit in. I hear him improvising stuff at school. He sounds pretty good. He plays the guitar but I think he'd work out. He's got some stuff up on MySpace." Alan was a little leery about a piano guitar combination. But after listening to a few cuts, he decided to give it a go.

December 23, 2009, Alan Darragh, Julian Clarke and Sam Dickinson, after much fiddling with the recording gear to accommodate Sam's effects pedal and electric guitar, recorded their first jazz improvisation. Alan had his dream trio!

Sam Dickinson was born in Toronto in 1992. He is a senior music student at the Rosedale Heights School of the Arts in Toronto.

With both his parents being professional musicians, Sam grew up surrounded by music – jazz and classical. His father, Brian Dickinson, is an award winning jazz pianist.  Following in his father’s footsteps, Sam began piano lessons when he was five, but switched to guitar at eight. 

Sam has been part of Humber Community Music School since 2001 when he was nine years old.  The School, which is offered through Humber's School of Creative and Performing Arts, is an outreach program for children and youth. The School's Youth Jazz courses give students an opportunity to develop and further skills in small group jazz performance.

The School participates annually in MusicFest Canada. Sam won the 2007 MusicFest Canada's Outstanding Guitarist Award in the 17 and under Jazz Combo Category.  He also won a scholarship to receive full tuition and residence at the prestigious Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop in Boston, MA. The scholarship was valued at $7000 US. Contestants were subjected to a stringent application and audition process. Cathy Mitro, Director of Humber’s Community Music School, said, “These two young musicians are certainly deserving and you can trust that we will all be hearing much more from each of them in the years to come.”

MusicFest Canada is an annual national event, which brings together more than 10,000 of Canada's finest young musicians, who perform for recognition as the country's foremost musical ensembles. Participants range in age from 12 to 25 years and are drawn from the elementary, high school, college and university levels. MusicFest Canada annually engages the participation of over 450,000 young people in 45 affiliated festivals nationwide for an opportunity to perform at the national festival.

Sam continued his winning streak with MusicFest Canada. In 2009, both his combo group and his trio were awarded a Gold Honour Award respectively for their performances. He also performed in the TD Canada Trust Young Jazz Showcase at the All Canadian Jazz Festival in Port Hope. His Humber Community Music School Jazz Combo performed as well in the Beaches International Jazz Festival Youth Initiative, which is open to students ranging in age from 13 to 18.

In early 2010, Sam was a featured artist at the Brenda Carol Renaissance Jazz Fair in Toronto, a small grass roots festival that features young up-and-coming artists.

When asked why with two parents in the music business and knowing the pitfalls he would choose to follow in their footsteps, Sam replied, " I saw it as something I loved to do. I've seen the struggles for recognition and money but I also saw the better side. You don't have to be poor or sell out. There's a place somewhere in the middle. I've watched my mother freelancing successfully. She's a classic violinist. My father teaches and gigs consistently. There's good and bad. There's lots of decisions I could make. Music seems more of a possible career for me than any other of my interests. I know the stresses and harsh side of the music business but it's something I love."

Sam has studied with musicians such as David Occhipinti, Ted Quinlan, Lorne Lofsky, Roland Hunter, and Emile D'eon as well as having received a lesson from Mick Goodrick in the summer of 09. He has played at venues all across Canada, as well as in Boston Massachusetts and around the Burgundy area in France. Sam is a dedicated cyclist, reader and practioner of yoga.

Sam says he is mainly a jazz player, but loves to play rock, Brazilian music, and many other styles, as well as incorporating them into his jazz playing. To hear some of his music go to his MySpace page below.